Most current methods for harvesting crops involve simple pass to pass steps without opportunity to efficiently separate crop according to crop attributes level to optimize market price potential and profitability. Although on-board crop monitors are becoming available for sampling harvested grain from point grain samples and estimating overall attribute levels of a harvested crop, most provide range or variance information of batches of harvested crop in the storage area without segregation of the crop according to attributes. Also, automatic sampling systems generally lack a good method for deciding areas wherein samples are to be taken.
Various attempts have been made for segregating crop based on attribute levels, including use of field topology such as slope, elevation and contour to divide fields of crop into zones. Dividing soybean fields into areas that correlate to protein levels has been proposed. For example, beans growing on knolls often mature weeks before those in the rest of the field, so farmers will go into the fields and selectively harvest the mature beans. Most crop segregation methods have been based on the visual perception of field and crop conditions by the harvester operator and a subjective view of potential value.
Prior evaluation of the level of attribute desired in a previous harvest is often ineffective for determining attribute zones in a present crop since there are numerous variables that affect crop attributes. Heretofore, there has not been an entirely satisfactory method for locating boundaries of areas of desired attributes and providing information in an effective and user-friendly manner to assist an operator in the harvest and segregation of the crop or to provide input to an automated harvester guidance system for that purpose.
Various methods have been proposed for guiding a vehicle, including selection of a work path based upon geographic factors of the area being traversed to minimize energy usage. Such a method is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,728,607. Other work path planning methods for such functions as optimizing travel routes, minimizing work times, optimizing unloading operations of harvesters and the like, are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,574. However, a reliable and user friendly method for establishing a mission plan to assist in crop segregation by attribute is required.
A method for segregating crops at the point of harvest including the step of operating a diverter on the basis of machine position and a map of harvesting instructions is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,304. Such diverter methods generally limit the number of segregated batches to the number of storage areas or bins provided at the harvester. Segregating crop by attribute into a number of batches greater than the number of storage areas presents difficulties. Segregating crops into a plurality of batches or loads and providing a convenient and reliable measurement of the mean and variance of the attributes of a batch or load of harvested crop have also been continuing sources of difficulty.